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Trans World Entertainment
| foundation = | founder = Robert Higgins | location = Albany, New York, U.S. | industry = Retail | products = CD, Blu-ray, and DVD stores | subsid = Suncoast Motion Picture Company f.y.e. | homepage = |founded = |headquarters = Albany, New York, U.S.|subsidiaries = Suncoast Motion Picture Company f.y.e.|divisions = TWE Family Pictures|website = |title1 = Trans World Entertainment Corporation}} Trans World Entertainment Corporation is an American company which operates entertainment media retail stores across the United States of America. As of August 2018 it operated 240 freestanding and shopping mall-based stores under several brand names, down from about 540 in August 2010. With continued pressure from other media delivery options, up to 35 more closures are expected in 2019.Biz Journals. 2 November, 2018. Retrieved 9 March, 2019 Based in Albany, New York, Trans World was founded in 1972 by Robert Higgins. It opened its first store, Record Town (formerly Record Land), in 1973. The company went public in July 1986 and has expanded through acquisitions of a number of smaller or failing companies including Strawberries, Camelot Music, and Wherehouse Entertainment. On September 23, 2000, Trans World signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of WaxWorks, and the deal was expected to close by the end of October. As part of a 2002 settlement with 41 states over CD price fixing, Trans World Entertainment, along with retailers Musicland and Tower Records, agreed to pay a $3 million fine. It is estimated that between 1995 and 2000 customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album. In February 2006, Trans World acquired the Musicland Group, which owned Sam Goody, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, and Media Play. The buyout included a handful of On Cue stores. Trans World operated at a net loss from 2006 to 2010. In fiscal year 2011 it turned a profit of $2.2 million (compared to a $31 million loss in FY 2010). The company closed some locations and increased margins on its products. Chains * Suncoast Motion Picture Company: Nationwide (mall-based) * SecondSpin.com: California, Colorado (focusing on purchase and resale of used media products) * Manifest Discs and Tapes: South Carolina, North Carolina * Spin Street Music: Memphis, Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut * Record & Tape Traders: one Location remaining in Towson, MD, in liquidation as of December 2018 * f.y.e.: Nationwide (mall-based and freestanding) * TWE Family Pictures: Albany, New York Defunct * Camelot Music * CD World: New Jersey and Missouri * Coconuts: Chicago area, Indianapolis area, New Jersey, New York, and Mid-Atlantic States (some stores still operate as Coconuts) * Disc Jockey: Southern U.S. (mall-based) * Incredible Universe, joint venture with Tandy Corporation: Nationwide (17 stores; closed in 1996, six stores sold to Fry's Electronics; ) * Leopold's: California * Media Play: Nationwide (closed in 2006) * Music World: New England states * On Cue: Nationwide Alternate Link via ProQuest. Link via ProQuest. Alternate link via ProQuest. * Planet Music: Virginia Beach * Peaches: Nationwide * Record Factory: Brisbane, CA Billboard - Feb 3, 1979 - Vol. 91, No. 5 "Record Factory's parent company. Mighty Fine Distributing. Brisbane, Calif" * Record Land: Nationwide (mall-based) * Record Town: Nationwide (mall-based) * Record World: Mid-Atlantic and New England states (mall-based) * Sam Goody: Nationwide (mostly freestanding; most mall-based stores have been re-branded as f.y.e. stores) * Saturday Matinee: Now only one location at Rockaway Townsquare in Rockaway, New Jersey; other locations closed or converted to Suncoast; previously operated in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania * Spec's Music Inc.: Florida * Square Circle: Nationwide (mall-based) * Strawberries: Texas, Maryland, New England and Mid-Atlantic States * Streetside Records: Missouri, Midwest * Tape World: Nationwide (mall-based) * Vibrations: South Florida * The Wall: Mid-Atlantic States * Wall To Wall Sound & Video / Listening Booth: Mid-Atlantic States, later converted to The Wall * Wherehouse Entertainment: Arizona, California, Colorado (formerly Rocky Mountain Records), Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington; filed for bankruptcy in 2003; Trans World took control of 111 stores and liquidated nearly a third of them Continued as an online buyer/seller until October 9, 2018 when the website closed. * TWE Family Pictures: Albany, New York TWE Family Pictures TWE Family Pictures is a 1989 children's retail company arm of Trans World Entertainment founded in December 1989 by Robert Higgins. References External links * *f.y.e. *New York Times Trans World Entertainment page Category:Companies based in New York (state) Category:Music retailers of the United States Category:Retail companies established in 1972 Category:Companies based in Albany, New York Category:Companies listed on NASDAQ Category:1972 establishments in New York (state)